The Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide (IOOW), the umbrella body of Yoruba self-determination groups, on Friday said its former leader, Professor Banji Akintoye has neither withdrawn from the agitation for a Yoruba Nation nor resigned his membership of the IOOW.
In a statement signed by the IOOW General Secretary, Tunde Amusat, the group said the octogenarian only resigned as the leader of Ilana Omo Oodua because of old age.
The statement read, “We wish to state that the letter of resignation of Professor Banji Akintoye was very explicit and was without ambiguity. Baba never said he was withdrawing from the Yoruba Nation Agitation nor resigning his membership of IOOW."
Prof. Banji Akintoye, Image: Politics Nigeria.
“For the sake of emphasis, Ilana was formed by over 100 Yoruba Self-Determination Groups in 2019, first as Yoruba World Congress before it was rebranded to IOOW in 2020 to make the struggle indigenous and traditional.
“Baba Akintoye was elected by these groups to lead the Yoruba Nation struggle which he graciously accepted on September 11th, 2019. Baba joined the struggle through a group, Oodua Foundation Inc.
“We, therefore, wish to set the record straight that Professor Banji Akintoye is our lifetime mentor and one of our Patrons in the Yoruba Nation self-determination struggle.”
According to Politics Nigeria, Prof. Akintoye had in a letter addressed to his former deputy, Prof. Wale Adeniran on Thursday, explained that he stepped down because of old age.
Akintoye's letter.
Prof. Akintoye wrote, “Dear Wale, I write this letter to you in your position as Chairman of Ilana Omo Oduduwa to congratulate you and the newly elected Executive Council of Ilana.
“I also hereby inform Ilana through you of my departure from further responsibilities in Ilana. I urge you and all others not to think that this step is a consequence of recent difficulties in Ilana.
"As you know better than any other person, I have been seeking for over a year now to take my leave from Ilana because combining the duties of Ilana with the duties of the greatly elevated demands of the self-determination struggle has been too heavy for me at my age.
"I am greatly honored that you as the closest person to me in Ilana, most Ilana members, and all Ilana committees, have for months been urging me not to leave Ilana because, according to you all, Ilana is my special ‘baby’ in the whole self-determination struggle.
"But you would remember that in a special meeting of leaders of the self-determination struggle from all over the world about a month ago, you and all the other meeting participants agreed graciously that I should give up my duties in Ilana because of my heavy accumulation of duties to the higher levels of the whole struggle.
“As for our current difficulties in Ilana, I am sure you would testify that I am not leaving because of them, and that, in general, even the greatest of difficulties never make me quit.
"I am imbued with God-given confidence that I can bear all things and solve the most tortuous complications among men because God in His mercy has given me the gift of a heart that loves all persons in all situations.
“Still, I must ask you to forgive me for leaving Ilana to you in its current condition. I had wanted to leave Ilana immediately after the special meeting of worldwide leaders about a month ago, but I decided to help you to iron out some of the ongoing difficulties before leaving.
"Unfortunately, things have not improved as quickly as I expected, and you now have to face a situation in which some of our extremists are still compounding the difficulties.
"However, I have much confidence in you – including confidence that you will find ways to steer our Ilana back to the path of compromise, unity, and strength.
“Finally, I must congratulate and thank you for your very high quality of leadership in this struggle for our embattled nation. I must congratulate and thank you, particularly for your bearing with strength and fortitude the frequent vilifications and false accusations.
"We who have stepped out bravely to liberate our Yoruba nation and to save it from being destroyed by the destructive forces of Nigeria are going through a lot of fire from our people.
"No doubt, we shall soon be hearing from some habitual detractors that it was you who disloyally plotted against me and made me leave Ilana, but we must not let such talk bother us in any way.
"By the grace of God, we shall win this war and liberate our Yoruba nation, thereby giving our nation the freedom it desires to develop into a greatly respected modern country in the world.
“Of course, you know that I shall always be available to you – to you personally as a friend and close associate in the higher levels of the self-determination struggle, and to Ilana as Patron and Mentor in the way that I am Patron and Mentor to other self-determination organizations.
“I thank God for His leadership qualities in you and thank you for giving yourself so unstintingly to our struggle for our nation. Accept my best wishes for you and your family, ” Prof. Akintoye concluded.
A statement by the group’s General Secretary, Tunde Amusat, on Thursday, announced that Prof. Akintoye handed over the leadership of IOOW to his former Deputy, Prof. Wale Adeniran.
Prof. Adeniran is a retired Assistant Professor of African Studies and the pioneer Commissioner for Education in Osun State. He hails from Ile-Ife.
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